This article was originally published on February 27, 2006 and is being republished as part of the Technosailor 3-year Blogiversary series. Enjoy! A timeless parable…

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Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Blogosphere, there lived three peasants. These peasants worked very hard day in and day out working for their respective lords. The first peasant was named Sydney and he was known for his affable ways and often could be found chatting up the other peasants of the land. The second peasant had a name no one knew. He was only known by the nickname UK. The other peasants came to UK for guidance and advice for he was very wise and bright and understood the times. The third peasant was name Jose, but he was often referred to as San Jose – Saint Joseph. Jose was given the nickname as he fancied himself someone people wanted to be like.

These three peasants went about their business day after day, toiling in the hot sun to produce something that would make their lord proud and set him up above the other lords of the region. You see, there was quite a rivalry between the fiefdoms of Blogosphere as they rivalled their way to greater power, lands and influence.

On day, the lord that owned the land that UK served on came to his servant and friend and asked him, “UK, how do I become the greatest lord in Blogosphere?” UK quietly sat down on a stone nearby and responded, “By making allies. When other lords look to you, they should see a man that is confident and effective, waging a silent war of conquest. You should strive to make allies, for in numbers comes stregth and with strength comes power.”

Likewise, Sydney was approached by his lord and asked the same question, “Sydney, I want to be the greatest in all the land. How do you think I should do that?” Sydney answered his lord, “Sir, you are the greatest but no one knows it yet. You let them know by building your war machine in private. Allow us to build your reputation by talking to other peasants and warriors, but don’t tell them yourself. Be humble, sir, in who you are but strong in what you do. Don’t allow others to push you around or make you feel insignificant. In that way, you will become strong and known throughout blogosphere.”

In a similar way, San Jose was approached by his lord. “Jose, we’re the top and you and I both know it. Do we have anything else to do to become great?” Jose looked at his lord with a gleam i his eyes, “Sir, you have to do nothing. You are the best. You have the best servants and the most land. You dine with Kings and Queens and have garnerd strong trade alliances. You do not need anything else and you don’t need to prove anything.”

As parables go, they can have many meanings and as true parable telling goes, I should not tell you the meaning and allow you to draw your own conclusions. Let me give you one take on this story I’ve been thinking about for two weeks now – There are three kinds of bloggers in the world – British, Australian and Silicon Valley bloggers. It does not matter where these bloggers are geographically. It is the attitude that is important.

Australian bloggers (whether actually Australian by geography or not) are confident in themselves, they do not make a lot of muss over themselves and they draw attention to injustices where they see them.

British bloggers (whether British or American or wherever) are the kind of bloggers that are cool and calm under pressure. They may not answer their critics but they listen and take notes. They are comfortable in who they are and strive for excellence.

Finally, Valley bloggers are arrogant and conceited thinking only of themselves, patting each other on the back and generally thinking in terms of a world that is encased in a bubble. They care little for anything outside of their bubble and are obsessed with the things that only their bubble is concerned with.

What kind of blogger are you?